Aerosol valve



June 28, 1966 J. E. GRE'ENEBAUM 11 3,258,208

AEROSOL VALVE Filed May 7, 1964 12 J& 3 38 i4 United States Patent 3,258,208 AEROSOL VALVE James E. Greenebaum II, Highland Park, Ill., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Seaquist Valve Company, a Division of Pittsburgh Railways Company, Cary, 111., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed May 7, 1964, Ser. No. 365,638 2 Claims. (Cl. 239-397) This invention relates to aerosol bombs which are commonly used in spraying a dispensed fluid such as an insecticide, a weed destroyer, or a paint.

Such bombs conventionally contain a quantity of liquid to be, dispensed together with a dissolved or mixed propellant liquid, such as Freon, having a boiling point below room temperature at' atmospheric pressure. The dispensed fluid is released by pressure of the users finger against a button on a valve stem to actuate the stem to open position, whereat the contents of the bomb are open to communication with a dispensing spray nozzle of the stem.

A well known prior art disadvantage of such bombs has been their lack of adaptability to jobs requiring sprays of various types. For example, a certain product which is dispensed in such a bomb is used not only as a sealer for wallpaper and wood, but is also used to finish wood surfaces such as floors and furniture. This product should be applied by a relatively coarse spray to wallpaper in order to avoid the necessity of repeated applications due to absorption by the wallpaper, and the product should be applied by a very fine spray when finishing a wood sur face in order to afford a smooth flawless finish. However, the cost of providing a bomb with an adjustable spray nozzle and the inexpediency of packaging the product in bombs having various spray nozzles of various sizes to accommodate the various jobs for which the product may be used has resulted in a compromise spray nozzle whichis best suited for none of the jobs to which the product is adapted.

Another problem in the art is that propellant gases are readily soluble in some dispensed products so that when the product emerges from the dispensing orifice to the atmosphere, rapid expansion of the gas causes atomization of the dispensed product. On the other hand most propellant gases are insoluble in other dispensed products, so that the dispensing orifice must be specially designed to impart a swirling motion of the dispensed product as it emerges from the orifice thereby eflecting mechanical atomization of the product.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to devise an aerosol bomb having a novel and economical means for preselecting the spray characteristics of the dispensed product.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a button having a plurality of dispensing ports adapted to be selectively connected to the valve stem of the bomb, said ports having dispensing orifices of different characteristics to preselect the spray characteristic of the dispensed product before the button is actuated to release the dispensed product from the bomb.

Another object of the invention is to devise a button having two spaced sockets or chambers within which the valve stem may be selectively fitted, said button having spaced orifices of different characteristics connected, respectively, to said chambers, whereby when the valve stem is fitted in one chamber, the dispensed product is sprayed from one orifice and when the stem is fitted in the other chamber, the product is sprayed from the other orifice.

The different characteristics of the respective orifices may be a matter of degree of fineness of the spray, in which case orifice selection would normally be made by the user, or one orifice might be formed and arranged for mechanical atomization of the product with the other orifice formed in the usual manner, in which case orifice selection would normally be made by the manufacturer.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partly broken side elevational view of an aerosol bomb embodying a preferred form of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the bomb shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view on line 33 of FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the novel button; and

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view of the novel button.

Describing the invention in detail, a mounting cup 2 is adapted for attachment in the usual way by crimping at 4 (FIGURE 1) to the open end of a container or bomb 6 containing a fluid to be dispensed under superatmospheric pressure in the container.

The valve assembly comprises a valve body 8 (FIGURE 2) havinga sealed connection to the cup 2 as hereinafter described and containing a head 9 of a valve stem 10 on which is fitted a button 12 having a top surface 14 for convenient and comfortable actuation by a finger of a user.

The valve stem 10 is biased to closed position by a spring 16 which seats at one end thereof on a complementary flat surface of the stem head 9, the opposite end ofsaid spring bearing against a shoulder 18 of a tubular extension 20 on the inner end of the valve body 8. The extension 20 is provided externally thereof with a retainer groove 22 having engagement with an elastic delivery tube 26 whichextends to a point slightly spaced from the bottom of the bomb to ensure delivery of substantially the entire contents thereof.

The stem 10 is adapted for actuation to an open position shown in FIGURE 2 by pressure of the users finger on the button surface 14 to open a port 28 in the neck 29 of the stem, which port is normally closed by a rubber gasket 30. When the port is open, the dispensed fluid flows outwardly in the direction of the arrows in FIG- URE 2 through the tube 26 and valve body extension 20 and thence through a U-shaped slot 31 in the body to the port 28 which conducts the dispensed fluid to an outlet passage 32 of the stem and thence to an outlet chamber or passage 34 in the button 12.

The port 34 communicates with an orifice 36 having a particular spray characteristic, such as a fine spray.

If a relatively wet spray is desired, the operator may remove the button by pulling it 01f the stem 10 and may then fit the-stem 10 within a button passage 38 which is connected to an orifice 40 having the characteristic of delivering a relatively wet or coarse spray, whereupon finger pressure against a surface 42 of the inverted button causes the wet spray to emanate from orifice 40.

It may be noted that both orifices 36 and 40 are formed in a common recess 44 of the button, said recess being .formed and arranged to guide the spray in a direction the stem 10 may be provided with a small stop lug (not shown) so that the stem may be rotated about its longitudinal axis to engage the lug with the top of the cup 2 so that the stem cannot be pushed downwardly to open position as the button 12 is pushed onto the stem 10. In such an arrangement the opening in the top of the cup 2 through which the stem 10 passes would be partly of a large diameter through which the lug could pass during normal use of the dispenser and the rest of said opening would be of a smaller diameter to engage the lug when the stem is in closed position and is rotated to engage the lug with the top of the cup 2.

What is claimed is:

1. A valve button for actuating the valve of an aerosol bomb to dispense the contained product, said valve having a valve stem, said valve button being reversible and having a pair of actuator surfaces on opposite sides thereof, a pair of spaced independent valve stem receiving cavities formed in said valve button and intersecting respective ones of said actuator surfaces, and a pair of discharge orifices each of which has a diiferent spray characteristic and is in communication with one of said cavities, whereby upon actuation of said valve a spray having different characteristics can be provided by reversing said valve button and inserting said valve stem in one of said valve stem receiving cavities.

2. A valve button for use with valve means having a valve stem, said valve button comprising a first and a second axially aligned valve stem receiving cavity and a pair of discharge orifices communicating with respective ones of said cavities, each of said discharge orifices having difierent spray characteristics, whereby a spray having different characteristics can be provided by inverting said valve button and inserting said valve stem in one of said valve stem receiving cavities.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,430,045 11/1947 Dougherty 239442 2,797,965 7/1957 McKernan 239436 2,887,273 5/1959 Anderson 239337 2,997,243 8/1961 Kolb 239444 3,036,744 5/1962 Steiman et a1. 239573 3,083,872 4/1963 Meshberg 239337 3,120,348 2/1964 ODonnell 239600 M. HENSON WOOD, IR., Primary Examiner. R. STROBEL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A VALVE BUTTON FOR ACTUATING THE VALVE OF AN AEROSOL BOMB TO DISPENSE THE CONTAINED PRODUCT, SAID VALVE HAVING A VALVE STEM, SAID VALVE BUTTON BEING REVERSIBLE AND HAVING A PAIR OF ACTUATOR SURFACES ON OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF, A PAIR OF SPACED INDEPENDENT VALVE STEM RECEIVING CAVITIES FORMED IN SAID VALVE BUTTON AND INTERSECTING RESPECTIVE ONES OF SAID ACTUATOR SURFACES, AND A PAIR OF DISCHARGE ORIFICES EACH OF WHICH HAS A DIFFERENT SPRAY CHARACTERISTIC AND IS IN COMMUNICATION WITH ONE OF SAID CAVITIES, WHEREBY UPON ACTUATION OF SAID VALVE A SPRAY HAVING DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS CAN BE PROVIDED BY REVERSING SAID VALVE BUTTON AND INSERTING SAID VALVE STEM IN ONE OF SAID VALVE STEM RECEIVING CAVITIES. 